Bellefonte, Pa., February 28, 1902
Written for the Warcumax.
Who Pays the Cost?
By Horace G. Stover, Altoona, Pa,
The forum now is open, the doors are thrown
wide,
The masses have been summoned, that justice
may decide ;
For a crime has been committed, the peace has
been disturbed,
And the law is set in motion, that the matter can
be heard.
The judge is on the bench, the clerk is at his
desk.
The prisoner's at the bar, and the jury is at
rest.
The lawyers all are present, the
hand,
And silence is prevailing at the court crier’s
command.
witnesses on
The bar-list now is read, all in the usual way,
The motions are presented, the rules and writs
to stay.
The silence is oppressive while this routine work
goes on,
And the clerk is making notes to guide him
further on.
At last the routine ends, the bar-list laid aside,
The Judge has made his rulings, the lawyers
must abide .
The audience is restless, the prisoner is alert,
The hour has arrived when the court is short
and cart. .
The docket now is scanned, and the record does
disclose,
That an indictment has been found, against one
Richard Rose.
The counts are all in legal form, and therefore
must be true,
This is the law’s presumption, from every point
of view.
The prisoner is arraigned as the rules of law
provide,
And the plea of “Not Guilty is entered on his
side,
The jury list 18 sifted for brains that can be
worked, :
And the Commonwealth 1s busy €o that nothing
can be shirked.
The jury is selected the best that skill can guess,
And the states’ attorney rises this jury to ad.
dress.
They are the court of last resort, the judge of
fact by lot,
And if they err in judgment,it is the best they've
got.
The witnesses are sworn in solemn form of law,
And swear to facts they never knew and things
they never saw.
The lawyers are
serene,
And everything betokens a
scheme,
bewildered, but the jury is
most harmonious
And now the lawyers argue in good Blackstonian
rhyme,
And cite the law from Bracton down to the pres-
* ent time.
And the jury is admonished all errors they must
- shun,
And the question
culprit done.”
is repeated “What has the
The Judge adjusts his glasses and sums in
great array,
The facts he analyzes and thinks he'll have his
sway, :
But the jury looks up wisely, and inwardly does
smile,
For they are long on merit, and the prisoner
short on guile.
The jury now retires, a verdict to combine,
And everyone is waiting to ascertain their mind.
But soon they come returning with slow and
. stately tread,
And the foreman says ‘Not Guilty’ but pay the
costs instead.
And so this farce goes on as has been often «aids
We will not find yon guilty but you pay the costs
instead.
And now my friend remember this, before you go
| astray, ! :
The jury may aequit you, but the costs you'll
have to pay. ‘
CLOUDS,
The whole scene was drear and desolate,
and a pale face pressed against the window
pane looked ‘out upon it with sorrowful
eyes, seeing in the gloom of the landscape
and shadowy skies the symbol of her future
life. The face itself was not remarkable;
there ‘was no special beauty of outline, no
dazzling complexion, no soft-colored wavy
hair. It was white and slender, and would
have been spiritless only for the restless
eyes and blood-red lips. The forehead was
broad aud thought-impressed, with brown,
hair brushed back and closely braided from
the fuce which happiness might have heau-
tified, but which was now undeniably’
plain, and tinged with the cold gray hue
which pervaded earth, air and sky.
Annie Raymond stood for an hour look:
ing persistently out, . not-on the dreary
landscape alone, but into. her drearier, fo-
ture. Since her mother’s death, which oc-
carred during her childhood, she had ex-
* perienced no bitter trials; but little, trifling
troubles had made her daily life unlovely
and ‘unpleasant. ‘ |
The family was large and in very moderate.
circumstances, and, like all poor people of
the present day, struggling to make one
dollar show for two, and so appear richer
than they really are. Lim
'' Jane, the elder sister, took charge of the
house and ruled the younger children with:
a rod of iron. The two girls who came:
next were both: married, and struggling
with large families and poverty. ; A broth-
er next younger had left home and was
seeking his fortune—a hopeless task. Then
came Annie, age 21, and the sisters young-
er still. The father was a ‘grave, ‘hard:
working man, who usually dozéd away ‘the!
time be spent at home. = | §
Annie’s life had been monotonous enough
thus, far. There was house-work in the,
mornings, and in the afternoons the sisters
sewed for a furnishing store in the village.
barely’ earning a sufficient sum to clothe
them: in the plainest apparel.
Bat they were sprightly, intelligens.
girls, and were received in the society with
those who were better supplied with this
world’s goods.
"There bad been n time when Annie in-
dulged in‘rosy dreams of the future, hut
her life was too monotonous; so lacking in
© incident, these were soon dispelled. Her
older sisters furnished striking examples of
what her own life would be.
. Should she choose single-blessedness and
become a cross, unhappy old maid like
Jane ? or follow in the foot-steps of Sarah
and Sue, and be a sickly, task-burdened’
wife, with scarcely an hour's peace and
quiet ? : :
« Neither picture looked inviting to a
young girl who had a passionate longing
for the luxurious and beautiful things of
this life. So she grew graver as she went
about the same simple, homely tasks da
after day,and Jane'sreproving voice grat
| thing that we
more and more harshly upon her sensitive
ear, until it seemed as if she must cry out
like a hurt child under the pain of her life
burden, and she was only dumb for very
shame.
For her sisters seemed happy in a certain
degree, and was her life harder to hear than
theirs ?
‘“They never think,’’ she said; *‘I de; so
much the worse for me; but I cannot make
them understand how terrible a life theirs
seems to me, it is so utterly devoid of
beauty, and even comfort.”
But daring the previous winter a change
came over the spirit of her dreams. Geo.
Hastings came to Glenville; and from her
first acquaintance with him her life bright-
capable and energetic, and a favorite with
his employer.
When Annie met him first she only saw
a rather small and uninteresting-appearing
young man, who conversed agreeably.
When she saw him for the second time she
thought he had fine eyes, and before the
evening was over she confessed that his
smile was beautiful. Then, as their ac-
quaintance progressed, she found their
tastes were very similar in many things.
After this he often called upon her even-
ings, and read aloud to her while she was
busy with her sewing. Numberless little
attentions followed, rendered in a tender,
delicate way, and for ajtime she was supreme-
ly happy.
* George was slowly but surely approach-
ing a declaration—she was certain of this—
and as she thought it over in her mind,
doubts began to creep in where content-
ment had reigned.
She loved him so well. She could have
died for him, and without him life would
be utterly desolate. But he was very poor,
with only a small sum as yet laid aside for
a rainy day. Would her life, after all
her tender dreams, be different from Sue’s
or Sarah's, if she married him ?
Jane, seeming to understand Annie's
dilemma, lectured long and eloquently on
the subject of marriage.
George Hastings was a fine young man,
she told Annie, who would make
his mark in the world ves, if he wasn’t
such a fool as to marry and burden himself
with a wife. A wife was a fearful drag to
any man. Single life for either man or
woman, was the only true and noble life
to lead, and any woman who married be-
cause she was tired of taking care of her-
self. He was a moral coward.
So, pondering upon Jane’s words until
she was nearly demented, Annie stood
looking out upon the clouded skies in the
chill November afternoon, and thinking
desolately of the clouds hovering over her
sky-life. :
“Will it be always so?’’ she asked her-
elf bitterly, as she turned away. “Oh, I
am so tired of the clouds of sorrow. Will
the sunshine of joy never come?”
And this moment one of her youuger sis-
ters came in with a letter for Annie. In
some surprise—for it hore a eisy postmark
—she opened it.
With the early heat of summer a lady
had come to board at Glenville, in search
of country fare and country breezes, for she
| was a confirmed invalid. She took lodg-
ings across the way from Mr. Raymond’s,
and seemed to fancy Annie from the first.
She now wrote, asking Annie to come and
live with her, as nurse and companion and
offering a sum which seemed princely in
Annie’s eyes.
She decided at once to go, for she longed
for a glimpse of the world without, but she
would wait until she saw George in the
evening, for his opinion might influence
her in some degree.
So, when he came, she hastened to im-
part the news. ;
“Don’t go, Annie,”’ he urged. ‘‘You
know—you must. have known for a long
time—that I love yon dearly. I’ve only
waited to tell yon because I had not a
suitable home to offer you as yet. But
I'm saving for that purpose every day,
dear, and when we can see each other so
often it will not be so hard to wait a little
longer. Stay, and promise me you will he
my wife just as soon as I can provide for
you properly.” :
‘George,’ she said, ‘‘you kuow I love
you, but Iam too much of acoward to
bind myself to be a life-long slave, like my
sister, Sarah, for instance.”
“Sarah was sickly before she married, I
believe,’’ he answered quietly, though his
manner betrayed some sarprise at such an
outburst from the usually mild Annie.
‘‘Yes,”” reluctantly.
‘‘And peevish and fretful, too.”’
‘Yes,’ responded Annie, slowly. -
‘You are neither.’
Annie burst into tears.
‘She was unhappy,”’ she said,
am [.7”? ian } to sa
George was puzzled. He used his powers
of persuasion to. the utmost, but she was
inexorable. She would not consent to. an
engagement, and she would go to the city
as a companion to Mrs. Reade. So, vexed
with her obstinacy, but thinking it best to/
give her her own way, since he could not
well do otherwise, lie bade her good-by.
“Annie sobbed herself to sleep that night,
and two days after—for there was slight
preparation needed—she set out for the
city. are, Ae fn
Hand so
situation. “Mrs. Reade was very captiva-
ting in manner, and’ treated Annie almost
like a sister. ‘Avnje had intended to save
her earnings, but, under Mrs, Reade’s ad-
vice, she found ample opportunity to invest’
them in’ the purchase of better clothing
than she had ever worn before. ~*~ =
Bye and bye her situation became less
pleasant. * Mrs. Reade was very capricious,
and sometimes hard to please. Another
truth dawned upon Annie’s mind, abont
this time, Her mistress was a neglected;
unloved wife, and thong she had every.
th could procure, she was
very unhappy, as much as either, Sue or.
"Ob, dear’. Annie sobbed to herself
one day, when her patience was severely.
tried, “everyone has iuore or Jess trouble,
and after all, peverty isn’t Joe. hardest
thing in the world to bear. If I were at
home now I could marry George and be
contented with the inevitable outfit of six
| silver spoons and two feather beds,and feel
much happier than either of my sisters.”
‘However, she determined to remain as
long as she conld bear with Mrs. Reade’s
| unhappy temper and the unpleasant
familiarity of the servauts, thinking she
would at least save her money and have
something to begin life with if she ever did
marry, which seemed very doubtful to her
now, i 4
Spring came on,and as the weather grew
warmer Annie began to have fearful head-
aches, a new thing for her. She grew tired
of the senseless looking rows of brick and
brown-stone. and longed for the pleasant
woods near her home, with their fresh,
green leaves and early flowers. She felt if
she could only have Jane to scold her it
would do her good. She grew homesick
for the very home she had despised. Mrs.
Reade complained that she was growing
heedless and Annie knew it was very true,
One morning she woke feeling too ill to
ened. He was only a merchant’s clerk, but |
For a time she was’ delighted “with her |!
rise. Mrs. Reade’s bell rang repeatedly,
but Annie was too ill to heed it and lay
dimly conscious of what was passing around
her. She knew they were holding a con-
sultation over her, and afterwrrd that they |
were removing her to some other place, she |
was far too sick to care where.
After a few days of burning fever her |
senses returned, and she found herself in:
the hospital, with everything new’ and
strange ahout her. As soon as she was
able to sit up she procured writing ma- |
terials of her nurse, and wrote home.
By this time Mrs. Reade had roused her- |
self to write also, and, thoroughly alarm-
ed, Jane set out to find her, accompanied
by George Hastings.
George met Annie quietly, but Jane
scolded and cried over her until Annie felt
that her sister really cared more for her
than she had ever known. They took her
home, a shadow of her former self, but
more contented in mind than she had been
in years before.
But it was not until she was quite as
well as ever, and had fallen readily into
the old routine of daily labor, that George
spoke again of love. He came to see her
the same as before, and brought her trifles
in the way of flowers and hooks; and one
evening, when they were sitting in the
dusk and gloom of the twilight with the
cloudy November skies frowning without
George said :
*‘Do you think, Annie, you could marry
a poor man, after all ?”’
‘Oh, George !”’ deprecatingly.
‘And do you think yon are brave enongh
to bind yourself to bz a life-long slave like
your sister Sarah ?°’
‘*Not to a husband I did not love, and
who cared but little for me. That would
be a fearful bondage for me, or to any oth-
er woman.’’
‘‘But I love you and you love me. Don’t
you think that makes a great difference?
‘All the difference in the world, Geo.”
‘“Then do you not think you could make
up your mind to marry me ?’’
*‘I think I could if you asked me.’
‘Oh I’ with a laugh, and that was all.
Not a word was spoken by either for!
some time, but he took her hand and drew
her silently to his side. = At last he spoke : |
‘Confess, Annie,” he said, ‘*that you are |
disappointed. I am not the hero you ex-
pected as a husband, am I?”
“No,” she answered, “but you are a
true, noble-hearted man, aud that is bet-
ter. I forgot in all my senseless day-
dreams and plans for the future, that I was
only a woman, and a very foolish one at
that. Youn bave excellent judgement and
sense, hut you are just my age, and, not so
wise, that I am afraid of you. I know you
have faults but so have I; and if you will
have patience with mine, I can bear yours
without a word.”
We shall have trials, too, dear,’’ he said,
‘‘but we shall help each other endure them,
and that will make them so much easier to
bear. The lesson of the past year has not
harmed you, Annie; you will bie’ more con-
tented all your life for it.”
*It may have done me good, George;
but I don’t think that I'm one whit better
than I was a year ago. I have the same
faults still. :
‘Neither am I better than I was then,
Annie; but 1 think we understand each
other more fully, and I love you, fanlts
and all, as I never could love another.”
So at Christmas time they were married.
And the finery in which Annie had in-
dulged the winter before with slight re-
modeling, served a good purpose as a wed-
ding trousseau. Her father came forward
with the spoons and feather beds, and Jane
exerted herself wonderfully, sayingit was
a pleasure to help Annie, she was so grate-
fal for everything.
The little sum which Annie had saved
from her earnings helped to furnish the
pretty little cottage which George's in-
creased salary enabled him to rent; and
though everything about it was very plain,
it was neat and tasteful and homelike, and
George and Annie were happier in it than
many a pair, who have all that money can
buy, could ever dream of being. And busy
with her daily cares which love lightened,
Annie forgot to mourn over clouded skies.
—New. York News,
Drunken Statesmen.
The editor of the Christian Advocate, New
York, relates in his paper that on one occa-
sion, not long before the firing of Fort
Sumter, he spent *‘some hours’ in the
Representatives’ ‘chamber ‘in’ the Capitol at
Washington. ‘The majority ‘of the mem.
bers appeared to be more or Jess intoxicat--
ed,” he says. ‘‘Some of them were unable
tostand. Others were guying the Speaker
—Penningten-—and, in fact, so tortured
him that, worn out, he left the chair and
put Schuyler Colfax in his place, who stay-
ed there many hours. It was a night ses-
sion.” ‘Such a’ thing could not happen
now. Drunkenuness is under thee ‘ban, and
nothing shows shis more strongly than the
change within, the last. twenty-five years
which bas come over our public men. The
mah who now drinks to excess is ‘the ex
ception; once he'was almost the rale—say
in the days of Webster.— Lancaster Eu-
aminer, tla this vor 1s
t
Three Die at the ‘Phone.
Prominent Jerseymen Expired Within an Hour of
One Another. Rio
Three men of prominence in New Jersey
dropped dead Wednesday heside the tele-
phones they were using. ' 7 1
“General William H. Cooper died while:
standing at the phone in hisoffice in Cam-
den. A few moments later a clerk in
Quartermaster-Generally Donnelly’s office
called Captain Charles E. ‘Snowden to’ tell’
him of General Cooper's: death.) Captain:
Snowden hang. up the receiver and was,
noticed to stagger. He fell to the oor and
died. About the same hour John Tatter-
sall, a prominent merchant, stepped to the
telephone in the car barn at Clinton and
Hamilton avenues, to telephone his son.
He hung up the receiver and fell hack dead.
Heart disease was the cause of all three
deaths. + Mul 10) ‘ se
Rs rr
TT
This Boy Teased His Pet Cat.
As a warning to all boys who tease their
pet cats and dogs, Ralph Crisswell, 10
years old, lies in the Altoona hospital with
his right hand swollen to twice its normal
size from blood poisoning and with the
prospects of being amputated by .surgeons
to save his life. Like all other boys, young
Crisswell was very fond of bis favorite.
tabby. Frequently he carried it about the
house in his arms and fondled it like adoll.
Two days ago he cornered the cat, and tak-
ing a stick poked it in its face. At first
the cat responded playfully, but when the
lad persisted in his antics it leaped savage-
ly at him, burying its sharp claws in his
right hand and biting him on the thumb,
Safer.
MecJigger—1I find it’s a good rule never
to hit a man when he’s down.
Thingambob—I¢’s a better rule never to
hit a man when he’s got you down.
OUR EXCHANGES ON THE
Shielded by Law.
From the Lancaster Intelligencer.
The libel suit at Clearfield, which last
week terminated in the acquittal of Editor
Meek, of the Bellefonte ‘‘Watchman,”’
who charged State Treasurer Harris with
general crookedness as a legislator, leaves
that prospective official with an embarrass-
ing reputation with which to assume an
office that apparently demands a high re-
pute for integrity to enable its occupant to
face the people of the state with equanimity
as he takes his seat in it. Probably it was
this thought whieh led Harris to invoke the
Jaw against Meek for charging him with
being a crook as a menber of the Legislature.
The trial pleased both parties, on the
witness stand Meek repeating his accu-
sation and Harris denying it. Numerous
witnesses were called to prove the repute of
Harris, but they were not permitted by the
court to testify unless they testified to
particular conduct of Harris within their
knowledge. Meek’s allegations were based
upon general report and upon statements
of belief made to him by his witnesses,
who, however were not permitted to testify
save concerning a hospital appropriation
for which Harris demanded a fee from the
hospital, which he claimed he was entitled
to. Under the ruling of the court the defend-
ant was not allowed to inquire into the al-
leged payments of money to members of the
Legislature in consideration for their votes,
and the case went to the jury with litlte
illumination; and their verdict of not guilty
was accompanied with the direction that
the defendant pay the costs; which seems to
be equivalent to a verdict that under the
testimony he was excusable but not entirely
justifiable in his publication; which gives
the state treasurer-elect opportunity to say
that the verdict was altogether against him.
It is unfortunate that the judge’s rulings
| upon the testimony offered prevented the
enlistment of the people with the infor-
| mation locked in the breasts of the distin-
guished witnesses summoned to confession,
headed by the governor; and we have to
| await another opportunity to find this
| evidence : on the records of a court. There
was however, one item of testimony record-
ed there in this case, which has long been
current report, but that nas not hereto-fore
found its way into the record of judicial
proceedings. This was the evidence of
Bernard Busch, reporter of the ‘‘Legisla-
tive Record’ in the last House, who declar-
ed that he had frequently been handed by
its chief clerk a marked roll call before the
vote was taken: and that members of the
Legislature who were not present were re-
corded as voting, and that he frequently
had to change his own record of a vote
to conform to the false official records giv-
en him.
Upon this evidence one might think that
the proper officials would set about con-
structing some indictments, as such would
be the result in a reputably governed state;
but not in this state, where there will
nothing of the sort occur until the. people
are sufficiently awakened to put their foot
down on such manners of legislation and
such judicial supineness.
Seems to Be Acquainted With Condi-
tions in Pennsylvania.
From the N. Y. Journal,
Pennsylvania is the rottenest State in the
Union.
This truth was illustrated anew in the
testimony taken at a recent trial for libel in
State Treasurer Harris’ home town.
When the Republican machine last fall
nominated Harris it was notorious that as a
member of the Legislature for two terms he
had been one of the most active of the ma-
jority *‘gang,’’ and had as black a record as
even Mr. Quay could desire in a candidate
for office.
Bat this made no difference to the queer
citizens of Penusylvania. They elected
Harris by a large majority over another ex-
member of the Legislature, who had proy-
en himself to he honest and unusually
able.
The Bellefonte WATCHMAN was so yel-
low as to describe Harris as. ‘‘an unblosh-
ing bribe taker’’ and ‘‘king of the crooks’’
in the Legislature. -
State Treasurer Harris sued. the yellow
WATCHMAN for libel, and set up the plea
that he had: not really ‘voted for a good
many bad measures in whose favor his vote
was recorded. ;
The official stenographer of the House
gave this testimony in Harris's behalf :
‘Many times marked roll ealls were hand-
ed to me before the roll call was made, and
often I recorded the names of members as
voting who I knew at the time were not
present. T knew it'was not right, but I’
couldn’t help'it. I had to do'as I was told
or get out, ;
This is the style in which the Republi-
can machine ‘jammed throngh’’ legislation
involving millions ‘of public money. That
is the method by: which it presented enor-
mously. valuable franchises to itsell.. . That
is the way Pennsylvania is governed,
Could open villainy be practiced in any’
| other State without rousivig ‘to revolt the
whole body of the people? Pennsylvania,
| lass, November, however, indorsed at the.
polls once, wore the Quay machine and all,
| its crimes.
‘The "jury which tried" Yellow Editor’
Meek, of the’ yellow Bellefonte WATCHMAN:
for calling. Treasurer Harris an ‘‘anblush-
ing bribetaker’’ and ‘king of the crooks’
acquitted him. i :
_ "The Republican machine must have been
off. 'wateh or such a verdict would hardly
bave been permitted. The jurymen—so,
out of moral harmony with their environs
ment—will feel the hand of vengeance, for
retribution, political, business ‘and social,’
generally overtakesanybody in Mr. Quay’s
kingdom who dares to offend his machine,
Sustains the Freedom
From the Perry County Democrat,
‘The acquittal of P. Gray Meek, editor of
the Bellefonte WATCHMAN, by the courts’
of Clearfield county, on the charge of' libel
brought by State Treasurer-eleet Harris, is
approved by everybody. except those who
are under the lash of the gang. The ver-
dict of the jury is’ a declaration sustaining
the right of free speech and the freedom of
the press. + It means that the newspapers
of the State have a right to criticise the
record of a man who is a candidate for pub-
‘of the Press.’
Sk
lic office. We congratulate editor Meek |
on his acquittal and rejoice in this vindi-
cation of the rights of the newspapers.
Protected the Crooks. Su
—
From the Lansford Record. : :
Editor Meek, of Bellefonte, was acquit-
ted on the charge of criminal libel agains
State Treasurer Harris, but was saddled
with the costs. If Meek was not guilty
why should he pay the costs? The cours
would not allow hearsay evidence and that
protected Harris and a lot of crooks who
ran things at the last session of the Legisla-
ture. ;
VERDICT
The Machine's Self Accusation.
From the North American (Ind.)
A jury of the neighbors of State Treasur-
er Harris, sitting in bis home town and
charged by a Judge not prejudiced against
him or the political organization with
which he is identified, bas declared by ver-
dict that the editor of the Bellefonte
WATCHMAN had probable cause to believe
he was telling the truth when he character-
ized Harris as an ‘‘anblushing bribe taker’’
and ‘‘king of the crooks’ in the late con-
gregation of grafters known as the Pennsyl-
vania Legislature of 1901. The jury did
not say whether or not it believed Harris
to be all that Editor Meek called him, evi-
dence on that point having been excluded
in deference to Harris’ strenuous objections
to any inquiry into the facts, but did say
libeled when he was accused of being an
unblushing bribe taker and a corrupt Leg-
islator.
Editor Meek did not prove that Harris
never blushed when he took a bribe, but
neither did Harris offer any testimony to
show that the flush of shame ever had
mantled bis cheek. It was not established
by competent evidence that Harris was the
most conspicuously corrupt member of the
Gang Legislature. Had Editor Meek been
permitted to put on the stand all the wit-
nesses he had called, much light would
have been thrown upon the methods by
which the bills voted for hy Harris were
passed and the jury would have been en
abled to pass upon these points.
Under the rulings of the Court, which
were in accordance with law, the defendant
editor could only show thas he was justified
in believing that a Legislator who voted in-
variably for measures promoted by notor-
ious bribery and other crooked methods
was himself bribed and a ‘‘erook.’”’” The
evidence offered in proof that Harris voted
for very rotten measures was the official rec-
ord of the Legislature. Harris’ answer to
this was a denial of the accuracy of the rec-
ord of the machine’s Legislature kept by
the machine’s own clerks. He asserted
that his vote on many measures was re:
ported incorrectly and that he was placed
in a false position before the people.
It was known and charged on the floor of
the House during the last session that ma-
chine members like Harris were recorded
by the machine’s clerk as voting for the
machine’s grabs and other legislative in-
famies when they were not present. Some
of the most infamous measures passed were
put through by the fictitious majorities so
produced. The falsification of the records
was impudently denied by the Gang, and
when proved it was ratified arbitrarily.
Harris, a machine member, now swears
that the charges were true, that the ma-
chine majorities were sometimes bogus.
In this he is fully corroborated by-the ma-
chine’s official stenographer for the Legis-
lative Record, one of the witnesses sum-
moned by the prosecution in Harris’ case
against Meek. Stenographer Busch testi-
fied that the records were not kept truly.
He said under oath: :
‘*Many times marked roll-calls were
handed to me before the roll-call was made,
and often I recorded the names of members
as voting who I knew at the time were not
present. I knew it was pot right, but I
couldn’t help it. I had todo as I was told
or get out.’’
The testimony of Harris and Busch taken
together constitutes a confession by the
machine that many of its pretended acts of
legislation were fraudulent as well as lar-
cenous. In an attempt to parry a charge
of venality, the gang takes refuge in an ad-
mission of gross usurpation and impugns
the validity of its own laws. Its enemies
have charged the machine with nothing
more infamous than the crime: which it
confesses.
Saved Damngerous Exposures.
From the Venango Spectator.
The trial of editor Meek, of Bellefonte,
for libel on State Treasurer Harris, result-
ed in a verdiet of not guilty, but defend-
ant to pay the court costs, amounting to
ed to produce evidence in support of his
allegation that Harris, while a member of
the Legislaturé, was a “king of crooks’?
and ‘‘an uublushing bribe-taker.”’ Con-
sidering that the hooks. were kept sealed
and the evidence ruled out, Mr. Meek
achieved a triumph and Harris suffered de-
feat. The shutting off of all but direct
testimony saved some dangerous exposures
of corrupt and rascally work. Meek could
have made good the statements of Lieut.
Gov. Gobin, that there was nevera time
when bribery was so open and bare-faced
as at the Jast session of the Legislature;
that ‘‘people on the streets talked about it
and pointed out this and that man who
had received so much for his vote on this
or that bill.’? One striking bit of testi:
mony was elicited at the Meek: trial, that
of Mr. Busch, a legislative reporter, who
said : “Many ‘times marked roll-calls were
handed to' me ‘before ‘the roll-call was’
made, and often’ I recorded the names of
members as voting whom I knew at the
time were not present. I knew it was not
right, but I couldn’t help it. I had to do
as’ 1 was told or ges out.” © 1° Baal
XC is Up to Elkin to Ast
Lf
From the City and State] ~'* 71 0 #
‘Republicans whosé party fealty led them
last November to vote for a mnetoriously
faithless member of the Legislature for an
office for which a conspicuously worth
member of the same House was also a can-
didate, should take particular notice, with
afew twinges of ‘conscience, that an editor
who. publicly branded their candidate
(Harris) as ‘‘an unblushing bribe-taker,”’
Has hen acquitted of the charge of libeling
the Treasarer-elect, and thig'in a court re-
garded as friendly to the prosecutor and
his party. One of the witnesses in this
case, Mr. Busch,gave testimony that should
be acted upon by Attorney General Elkins,
sion of the Legislature; swore that the vot-
ing roll was often made up before the vote
was taken, and that he was compelled by
the Chief Clerk to falsify the record. The
Attorney General cannot afford to ignore
that evidence, even if the Chief Clerk can.
The Pot was Kept Covered.
From the Clarion Democrat.
The Harris-Meek libel suit at Clearfi-ld
last week ended in a verdict of !‘not guilty
bus pay the costs. In other words editor
Meek did not libel State Treasurer-eloct
Harris when he called him “‘king of crooks’’
and an ‘‘onblushing bribe-taker.”” If the
presiding judge bad admitted the testi-
mony that Mr. Meek was ready to present
the public would have had the whole story
of the corruption in the last Legislature
involving high and low, up to the Govern-
or. Bat the truth was not admitted--was
suppressed. Mr. Meek is fully vindicated.
plainly that the State Treasurer was mot |
less than $1,000. Mr. Meek was not allow- |
Busch, official stenographer at the last ses-:
| The Truth Choked Down to Protect
i
High Officials.
From the Titusville Advance Guard.
The trial of Editor Meek, of the Belle
fonte WATCHMAN, for libel, ended just
about as was expected when it became nec-
essary to place those in high office on the
witness stand.
The verdict of the jury was, that Editor
Meek was not guilty, but to show fine fig-
uring and a disposition to be just as be-
tween the contending parties Mr. Meek
mast pay the costs. What a travesty on
justice is the rendering of such a verdict.
If Mr. Meek was guilty of the charge pre-
ferred against him he should have been
proven so, and if be should be found in-
nocent, which he was, why impose on him
the payment of the costs?
Is it to be wondered at that the people
are beginning to lose all respect for the
: laws, when such bare-faced knavery and
trickery is resorted to on the part of those
| who are placed in high station to execute
them. From the trial of Meek, while of
short duration, we learn from the legisla-
tive reporter of the last cession of the legis-
ture, that the official records of that session
were doctored to suit the circumstances.
His testimony reads that many times,
marked roll-calls were banded to him be-
fore the roll-call was made and that he of-
ten recorded the names of members as vot-
ing when he knew they were not present
at the time.
The reporter admitted that he knew it
was not right to do as he did, but could
not help it, for the reason that if he dis-
obeyed he was told to get out by the ruling
power. State Treasurer Harris may be
what his friends claimed for him when he
came before the people of this State for
their suffrage to place him in the position
of state treasurer, but the facts as disclosed
and made public during the trial, hear
very hard on Mr. Harris. In the case of
the Cottage Hospital appropriation of $12,-
000 by the legislature and the cutting
down of same by the Governor to $10,000
might look well and good, had not Mr.
Harris at the solicitation of the hospital
board prevailed on the Governor to sign
the bill for the full amount of $12,000, so
that Mr. Harris could receive for his part
in the deal, the sum of $100. All the evi-
dence adduced in the Meek-Harris contest
reveals the fact that Mr. Harris, while a
member of the last Legislature, was com-
pletely in the hands of unscrupulous men
to do their bidding at the expense of the
taxpayers.
It is something to be deplored that the
libel suit was choked down as it was pre-
sumably to protect many of our high offi-
cials from further exposure in the part tak-
en by them in legislation, the like of which
is a disgrace in any civilized country.
iw ta Se
Impossible to Present the Truth.
From the Williamsport Sun.
The Harris-Meek libel suit at Clearfield
practically collapsed when Judge Gordon
ruled out the offer of testimony by which
the defendant sought to prove that bribery
and corruption prevailed at Harrisburg
during the last session of the Legislature.
The court’s ruling was a great disappoint-
ment to the public, as it was noped that
the story of the corruption that prevailed
at the state capitol last winter would be
brought out by the evidence of the wit-
nesses subpoenaed by editor Meek. The
tales that conld bave been told by Gov.
Stone. Attorney General Elkin, Insurance
Commissioner Durham, Speaker Marshall,
Lieut. Governor Gobin, and others who
wonld "have been able to ‘‘speak by the
card,” would have been highly edifying.
But all effort to get an insight into the
workings of the machine has heretofore
met with the same fate that attended that
of editor Meek at Clearfield last week. That
there was bribery and corruption in secur-
ing legislation favorable to the gang is the
belief of the honest citizens of the state,
but the bribers and bribed are as silent as
clams over the nefarious transactions. It
has been found impossible to get sufficient
evidence to convict the bribers, and
editor Meek and his friends made a mis-
take in susposing that the story of
corruption would he divulged in the trial
of his libel suit. The machine is ton well
entrenched behind its breastworks of self-
Interest to surrender the secrets. of its evil
work.
Justice Under A Cloud,
From the Wellshoro Gazette.
Not guilty, but pay the costs,’”’ was the
verdict brought in at Clearfield last Satur-
day morning hy the jury chosen to decide
whether P. Gray Meek, of the Bellefonte
WATCHMAN, has libeled State Treasurer-
elect Frank G. Harris by calling him *‘king
of crooks’’and an * ‘unblushing bribe-taker.’”
The verdict is a stinging rebuke of Harris
and a vindication of Mr. Meek. that there
was strong ‘‘probable cause’’ for his publi-
cation,and that it was not made maliciously
or negligently.
One of the misfortunes of the trial is that
it kept the hook . sealed as to admitted
bribery and corruption of the last Legisla-
ture. This is the way the trial is generall
regarded by the press of the State: The Phil-
adelphia Press, referring to the misfortune
of the trial in keeping the lid down, says:
“There never bas been denial of any of
these assertions,’’ referring to the bribery
in the speaker-ship contest and the ripper
and franchise ''legislation, adding = that
‘‘Governor Stone has himself made public
the fact that for the first time in the history
of the Commonwealth-its chief excutive has
been accused of demanding $200,000, and
accepting $150,000, for signing certain acts
of the Legislature, and this is the only
allegation that has ever been denied. It
was ‘the feature of Governor Stone's now
famous poseript.’’ ; 4
§i 4
‘Satisfactory all Around.
From the Connellsville Courier.
The libel suit against editor P. Gray
Meek of the Bellefonte WATCHMAN re-
sulted in a verdict that everybody connect-
ed with it declares ir pleasing to them, but
it is safe to say that here were some dis-
appointed hecause the editor wasn’t ‘‘soak-
ed,” and the editor ‘wasn’t disappointéd
because he wasn’t permitted to prove all
he knew and all he heard about State
politics. Some of the witnesses who were
summoned may have been pleased that
they were not called upon to tell all they
knew, and others no doubt would have en-
joyed telliug some things they knew about
the other fellows. Editor Meek'is the only
man who told all he knew and wasn’t
sorry. ;
Fined for Teiling the Truth.
From the Delaware County Democrat.
‘‘Not guilty, but must pay the costs,’’
was the verdict in the case of Treasurer-
elect Frank G. Harris, against P. Gray
Meek, editor of the Bellefonte Democratic
WATCHMAN, for libel. This simply means
that Meek told the truth, but shouldn’t
have done it!
(Concluded on page 3.)